Strategic Analysis and IT Plan: Footsteps Historical Tours Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Footsteps Historical Tours, a business venture established by Roger and Judith Ironridge. It begins with a strategic analysis of the company's position in the global tourist market, exploring their current operations, target audience, and competitive landscape. The report then delves into an IT-based marketing plan, outlining strategies to enhance their online presence and leverage technology for growth, including recommendations for hardware and software. It also includes a SWOT analysis, financial projections, and key performance indicators. Furthermore, the report addresses case study questions, examining the entrepreneurial characteristics of the founders, the overlap of business and family roles, the company's strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and constraints, evidence of strategic planning, and relevant government policies.

NEW BUSINESS
VENTURE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
Strategic analysis of “Footsteps Historical Tours”; the company and its
position in the global tourist market....................................................................3
1. IT based Marketing Plan that will enable company to trade as a
successful on-line travel business.........................................................................5
IT inexperience of the current business owners and recommend suitable
hardware and software..............................................................................................9
3. Recommend timescale for Footstep to implement IT project.............................11
Case Study Questions........................................................................................................13
What ways do Roger and Judith Iron ridge conform to images of typical
entrepreneurial figures?..........................................................................................13
Ways in which business and family roles overlap in the Footsteps.......14
Strength and weaknesses of the Footsteps family members...................14
Opportunities and constraints for this business............................................15
Evidence for strategic planning and thinking within the business.........16
Aspects of entrepreneurship in the Footsteps................................................16
Government policies that has developed to support emerging small firms
such as Footsteps?....................................................................................................17
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Business venture is a Start-up entity developed with the intent of profiting
financially. A business venture may also be considered a small business.
Many ventures will be invested in by one or more individuals or groups
with the expectation of the business bringing in a financial gain for all
backers. Footsteps was established by Roger and Judith Ironridge twenty
years ago in 1983. It was originally an extension of their hobby of visiting
battlefields and other historical sites. Roger and Judith had first met when
studying history at university and both became teachers on graduating.
They left teaching after three years and established the business as an
alternative way of utilizing their history expertise This report covers
questions on case study which includes all the aspects of
entrepreneurship, strength and weakness of family members and other
questions which gave an analysis of the case study. Other than this
strategic analysis of the company was asked with the introduction and
background of the company, IT related marketing plan and the need for
hardware and software which is required to cope up with the level of
expansion that the company is hoping for and meeting the current trends
in the market and recommendations of timescale in order to implement
the sources of IT.

Strategic analysis of “Footsteps Historical Tours”; the company and its
position in the global tourist market.
Introduction and Background
Footsteps commenced their operations in 1983. it was started by two
people that is Rodger and Judith who met in college. After their graduation
they both worked in the university as a teacher for three years then they
decided to start their own work. They change their hobby into the
business. They liked to visit historical places and battlefields. This interest
helped them to start their own business as it has helped them to gain
some expertise in that area. With the help of their vision and strategy the
business quickly matched to earn the same as they earned in their job
which satisfied them and they were comfortable with it. They hired two full
time employees and two part time tour guides who were PHD students.
Currently the company is offering on mature clients and appeal to people
who are interested in historical monuments (Halim and et.al., 2017).
Till now the company has gathered their share Lincoln, York and
Edinburgh. They gave their guests quality service which helped them to
get more people. They provided them with guides who had every
knowledge about that area. Apart from this they made sure that their
clients get authenticated food to make the trip successful. Company also
organizes theme for holidays for their loyal customers. There are many
competitors who are performing on a large scale as compared to Footsteps
which they need to keep in mind before expanding their operations on
global level (Rahman and et.al., 2016).
Strategic Analysis-
They had the vision to change their interest into a venture. Their
objective was to be successful in market and provide quality service to
their consumers with increasing the factor of growth every year. In order to
grow their business they are going to tap those markets where the
company can achieve success. Current strategy of the company is

targeting mature people but after enabling and taking the help of internet
services the company is thinking to change their starter and target
audience and that is to target those people who are young in age because
they tend to travel more. Apart from this they are also looking for starting
single weekends for those people who are aged around 30 rich and single
as they will be the one who will be ready to pay for these type of service
(Krotov, 2017).
1. IT based Marketing Plan that will enable company to trade as a
successful on-line travel business
Executive Summary: This plan will explain about the ways that can
be used by Footsteps so that they can enhance their travel service and
mark their presence online. It will also lay emphasis on various marketing
strategies that can be utilized by company so that they can grow and
enhance their market share. Plan will also emphasise upon the use of
updated technology, artificial intelligence, automation in growth of travel
business.
Mission: Mission of Footstep is to leverage their strong market and
customer knowledge, driving customer satisfaction and retention, with
service and fulfilment.
Vision: Footstep is powered by a passion for travel. They want to
enable everyone to travel and experience the world through affordable,
value-for-experience, midscale hotels to clients wherever they go.
Objectives:
To make company the best online travel organization in coming two years.
To increase profitability of Footsteps by 20% till the end of year 2021.
To enhance consumer satisfaction by 10% in upcoming 6 months.
To increase online presence of company by 5% in 3 months.
Situational Analysis
Marketing strategy:
Product: Footsteps is being engaged in providing affordable travel
services online. Services which is being provided by them are of high

quality. Footsteps tours have included visits to Lincoln, York and Edinburgh
where guests receive an excellent guide to the history and culture of the
area (Khan and et.al., 2017). They make sure that travellers who have
booked their holidays from them are safe and secure. Footsteps tours are
also providing their services online so that they can create a huge
consumer base. This will also assist them in enhancing their profitability
and revenue. Also this aspect will assist company in creating goodwill in
front of consumers.
Price: Footsteps while providing affordable airline services,
accommodation services online will put up a price that will be affordable by
travellers. They will be making use of premium pricing or skimming pricing
strategy. In this Footstep tours will make sure that they are setting price
which is lower than their competitors. It will assist them in attracting more
consumers online. Also in order to create consumer base, firm will also
prepare an app which can be used by customers to book tickets online.
They can also provide premium discount to their favourite consumers
online. This can assist Footsteps tour in creating customer loyalty and it
will have engaged consumers more towards them. It is beneficial for
company’s growth.
Promotion: In order to mark presence online, Footsteps tour will be
engaged in promoting their business by using social media channels. They
will promote their services with the help of online websites like Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter. It will also be cost effective for Footstep Tours. Also
they will be able to reach out large number of travellers. While promoting
online company will also describe about the various benefits which they
are going to give to consumers. Like for example consumers who are
visiting different places such as Edinburgh, Network through them, will be
enable to know about history, culture of those place. An excellent guide
will be make available to them. Also they can book hotels and restaurants
online with their mobile phone.

It would be really easy for travellers and it will assist company in
increasing consumer’s satisfaction. Automation has assisted Giving
business travellers the reigns and implementing a self-booking system
simplifies expense management and frees up a lot of time in many areas
of a business (Sirgy and et.al., 2018). Also they are working on their
websites so that consumers can put feedback over there. This will help firm
in analysing gaps in their services. By this they will also think of ways to
overcome the gaps. It will assist Footsteps tour in enhancing consumer
experience and increase their profitability. Also by using automation in
company they will be able to build up relationship with customers. It will
also help firm in gaining competitive edge and increasing revenue.
Place: Footsteps tours are now serving in places like New York,
Edinburgh and many more. Now the company is thinking of expanding
their market share with the help of online tools and services so that they
can reach out large number of consumers. It will also assist them in
becoming best online travel services. They are also working on providing
safety and security to travellers who are visiting these place.
SWOT Analysis-
Strength-
Strength of the company is to provide reasonable and quality service
in the market. Apart from offering touring service they also design the
theme of the trip.
Weakness-
Footstep does not have enough resources and knowledge to expand
their operations and take the help of new technologies which can help
them to increase their base of customers.
Opportunities-
Company has the opportunity to go online and take the help of new
hardware and software to attract more tourists. This will help them to
increase their base of customers (Malik, Arif and Abbasi, 2017).
Threats-

There are many companies who are operating on a large scale and
they have the power to offer more quality service at less price to their
clients. Their owners do not possess the required knowledge to operate on
a big scale which is a threat for the company as it can affect the business
of the company. If the owners of the company do not implement new
measures then they will loose their prospective customers in the market.
Financial Information
Jan Feb March April May June
Cash inflow
Sales 15000 16000 17000 18000 19000 20000
Total cash inflow 15000 16000 17000 18000 19000 20000
cash outflow
rent 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000
marketing expenses 3000 2000 4000 3000 3000 3000
raw material purchas
e 4000 4000 4000 4000 4000 4000
utility bills 500 600 500 600 500 600
wages 2500 2500 2500 2500 2500 2500
Total cash outflow 12000 11100 13000 12100 12000 12100
Net cash flow 3000 4900 4000 5900 7000 7900
Monitoring and Controlling-
KPI-
It stands for key performance indicator and this is a necessary
aspect for the company as it will help them to figure out how effective and
efficient they are and in what areas they are lacking. KPI can be enabled

on a high level or small level. High level will help the company to look after
all of their operations whereas low level will look after only in selected
areas such as department of sales, marketing, profits etc. This tool will
help Footstep to measure their performance on the online tools which will
be a relief for the owners of the company as it will save their time to look
after other areas which require their focus. This tool will help the company
to meet their expected results, measure the progress they have made in
the IT sector, increase the sales and revenues of the company and helps to
review the performance on monthly basis so that company can make
necessary changes in order to improve in the concerned areas (Ditizio and
Smith, 2017).
IT inexperience of the current business owners and recommend suitable
hardware and software
Current business owners of the company are Judith and Rodger who
have been handling the operations of the company for more than 20 years
which makes their thought process outdated according to the current
trends of market. In order to expand the company into different markets
they need to look for sources or new options such as marketing the
company with the help of digital marketing and taking the help of online
services to expand the operations of the company. They need to hire an e
commerce expert who can help the owners of the company to design their
website and take the company to the medium of online which will help the
owners to gain one more physical evidence and describe the details about
the company. This will make the work of the clients easier as they can
easily book for the service of the company online through medium
channel. Apart from this the company can take the help of third party sites
such as Make my Trip or Go Ibibo to increase their share of customers.
These channels will help the company to get those consumers who visit
their source which is generally more than what they will be getting from
their own website. In order to cope up with the level of expansion
requirements of more than 10 PCs will be needed, services of WiFi which

will require routers and LAN connection. These facilities are a must if a
company wants to increase their scale of operations. On the other hand
they will also require many changes in software which can help them to
analyze their performance. For instance if the company is taking the help
of digital marketing then they will require software such as Google
Analytics, Google Adwords to measure the performance and attract more
people. Apart from this they will require app developers for the company
which is a platform similar to website and can be enabled through the
mobile phones of their clients (Cummings and Vaaler, 2019). The
application must be developed thoroughly and includes features such as a
road map for the journey which covers all the paths they need to visit. The
application must be linked through google map as many of the people trust
it over their own software. The application must be developed in a way
which provides the clients with proper schedule to where to go at what
time so that they don't miss out anything and make their trip remember
able. Other than this they must offer loyalty points on their application
which can be redeemed when they booked from the company the next
time they are going on a trip. There are many more things which company
can add in their application such as to remind their clients about the
details of the flight and to keep all the necessary documents so that they
don't face any kind of difficulty in the middle of the trip. Some of the
people don't like the guidance from tour guides to avoid that company can
enable a software which speaks through application and give the historical
details about the place. This way client can go to the destination according
to his will and interest. Some of the people don't like to follow the
indicators and directives which the tour guides offers. Taking the help of
online services will be costly and time consuming but it will be beneficial
for the company in the long run. These hardware and software will be
difficult to establish but they will take the company to the next level in the
market (Umrani, Doudpota and Ahmed, 2016).

3. Recommend timescale for Footstep to implement IT project
Timescale – it is necessary for Footsteps to grow and expand in the market by
shifting from physical business to online one. However, by using technology it will be
easy for company to develop an App and provide services to customers easily. In
order to implement IT project, it is essential for company to identify that how much
time is required for project to be implemented. Furthermore, timescale enable in
proper planning and executing IT project activities and tasks. Moreover, project
timescale gives an insight that how task are to initiated and completed.
Similarly, in Footsteps the timescale for completion of IT project is to be done
in developed in effective way. here, the IT project will be completed within 1 month. In
that all activities related to IT project are included in it. In addition to it, for developing
timescale project management tool can be used such as Ghantt chart. This will be
useful in breaking down project into small parts and then identifying its duration.
Along with it, tool will describe each activity time and its start and finish date. With
help of it, IT project can be completed within specified time.
It is recommended that timescale of project can allow company to make
develop App and monitor it. On basis of that, monitoring can be done and results are
analysed. However, business can allot resources according to progress of project.
The company should be able to focus on project progress and slowly shifting their
entire business online. Alongside, Footstep can decrease time of implementing IT
project. This can be done by eliminating those stages that are not necessary.
Timescale
Task Name Duration Start Finish
System and software
requirements- 1 day Thu 2/6/20 Thu 2/6/20
Feasibility study 2 days Thu 2/6/20 Fri 2/7/20
Software requirement
specification 4 days Mon 2/10/20 Thu 2/13/20
User interface
requirements 5 days Fri 2/14/20 Thu 2/20/20
Analysis 1 day Thu 2/6/20 Thu 2/6/20

Prioritise requirements 6 days Fri 2/21/20 Fri 2/28/20
Selection of hardware
and software 7 days Mon 3/2/20 Tue 3/10/20
Design 1 day Thu 2/6/20 Thu 2/6/20
Designing IT
infrastructure 8 days Wed 3/11/20 Fri 3/20/20
Coding 1 day Thu 2/6/20 Thu 2/6/20
Writing code in
programming 3 days Mon 3/23/20 Wed 3/25/20
Finding errors 2 days Thu 3/26/20 Fri 3/27/20
Testing 1 day Thu 2/6/20 Thu 2/6/20
Testing software and
system 5 days Mon 3/30/20 Fri 4/3/20
Identifying errors and
solving 4 days Mon 4/6/20 Thu 4/9/20
Operations 1 day Thu 2/6/20 Thu 2/6/20
Installation 10 days Fri 4/10/20 Thu 4/23/20
Monitoring 6 days Fri 4/24/20 Fri 5/1/20